ACC

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was not instituted to obstruct government projects, said President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik.

The President’s statement came in response to a question asked by a journalist regarding the response of ACC to a recent Supreme Court judgment which ruled that the High Court could not uphold an ACC order on the Department of Immigration and Emigration to suspend the project to install a border control system in the Maldives.

Upon his return from the official visit to China, the President spoke to reporters at the Airport, and when one of the reporters present posed a question about the issue, the President said that the ACC’s job is to investigate cases of corruption or alleged corruption and that ACC’s mandate does not include the suspension or stoppage of government projects.

“ACC has been instituted in order to conduct investigations into corruption cases in the government. ACC is not authorized to obstruct or stop projects, as I see it”, said the President.

The President also said that Supreme Court decision did not encroach upon or diminish the legal authority of the ACC as some judges had also affirmed.

“Some judges have spoken about it. They say that the ACC does not have legal authority to stop the border control system project. And they also say that Supreme Court decision does not diminish the authorities of ACC”, said the President. The President referred here to a Statement issued by the Media and Publications Unit of the Maldives’ Judiciary.

After the judgment of the Supreme Court, ACC publicly said that the “hands and feet of this Commission is now tied up” and that they “could not now stop any case of ongoing corruption howsoever serious and large the magnitude of that case may be”.

In response to ACC’s complaints, Judiciary Media and Publications Unit stated that the judgment of the Supreme Court did not in any way diminish the legal and lawful authorities and powers of the ACC.

The border control system is carried out by the government in partnership with the Malaysian company Nexbiz, which can, by the terms of the contract between the parties, charge any foreigner leaving or entering the country USD 2, and also charge any new issue of visa or renewed visa an amount of USD 15.

ACC has gone to lengths accusing that the project involves serious transactions of corruption.